1. Ice Princess

I groaned as Edward’s Volvo pulled smoothly into one of the parking spaces in front of our destination. Thanks to his super fast driving, we had arrived half an hour earlier than we would have if I’d been behind the wheel. I shot Edward a pleading look, but he just chuckled. “We’d better get inside before it gets too crowded,” he murmured as he opened the passenger door for me, glancing unsurely at the thin clouds. I could tell he was worried about the sun deciding to appear and prove Alice wrong, but for me this was the least of my worries.

“I still don’t understand why you insist on taking me ice skating. I already get enough of the cold without going into this man made refrigerator,” I contended, although I knew it was hopeless. Edward was insistent on taking me to do “normal” human activities, although I had yet to meet an accident prone klutz who would freely take themselves ice skating.

“I already told you, you need to do more normal human things. If you spend all of your time doing things that vampires do for fun, you’ll forget how to be human. Besides, it will be fun.” His crooked smile was the only thing keeping me from cringing at the word fun. He took my hand and led me toward the rink. I unwillingly followed.

“If I had it my way, I won’t need to remember," I whispered, and he groaned.

“Not again Bella,” he warned. I looked up and saw humor in his liquid topaz eyes. “I’d stop there, unless, of course, you want to fall on your face,” he teased. I let it drop this time. I didn’t want to ruin the day with a fight, but eventually it would be inevitable. He would change me. We got inside, and I felt an icy blast of air. I fought a shiver, wishing I had listened to Alice and worn gloves. Edward went and grabbed a pair of skates for each of us. He quickly laced his and then helped me untie the hopeless knot I had turned the laces into.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Of course not. I still don’t see how this is any good. If Carlisle wanted to see me, he could have just asked,” I answered, reluctantly taking a few wobbly steps towards the ice. The second we stepped onto it, I could feel my feet sliding out from under me. Automatically, I braced myself for the fall. Obviously, there was no need. Edward caught me before I even began my downward plunge.

“Hmmm,” he muttered, amused. “Have you ever been ice skating before?”

I rolled my eyes. “Without you, I would be in the hospital in five minutes tops,” I retorted, glaring at him for forcing me into this. Edward, however, merely chuckled. He slid behind me, taking one of my arms with each ice cold hand.

“Just don’t move until you get the hang of it,” he warned. Without waiting for my reply, he took off at a speed which seemed hardly possible for a human.

“Slow down!” I hissed, though I enjoyed the speed and effortless skating. Edward just laughed again. How could he be so unconcerned about traveling at an inhuman speed?

“Bella, this speed is perfectly normal. Believe me, I know what I’m doing. Just look around,” Edward returned smugly, not slowing down at all.

Unwillingly, I did as he said, and I realized he was right, as usual. All of the human skaters were going at about the same speed as us. We went around the rink a few more times before Edward decided that it was time for me to try. He gracefully skated in front of me, taking my hands. “Just put one foot in front of the other. You should naturally just glide,” he instructed. Of course, nothing seemed to come naturally for me. My legs seemed to turn to jelly underneath me. I looked around, suddenly conscious of how full the rink had gotten. I blushed when I saw some girls who couldn’t have been older than ten watching me curiously before doing spins and twirls in the center. Here I was, almost a senior, and I couldn’t even make it two feet without my boyfriend having to save me from falling on my face. I turned away, hoping to hide my blush from Edward.

Of course, he missed nothing. “Bella, don’t be embarrassed. You just have to concentrate. I know you can do it,” he leaned in, his voice turning to a whisper. “Alice saw it.” I wondered if this was one of those things which Alice was wrong about. I was positive that if I decided to stop right now, her vision would change.

“Okay, tell me what to do again,” I finally replied, taking his hands again. I realized that they didn’t feel so unnaturally cold. This is what it would be like when I was a vampire, I guessed. I looked up into his eyes, hoping that he was thinking the same thing.

He hesitated. “Slide your right foot forward and then your left.” I followed his directions, and slowly inched my way forward. He continued to instruct me and perfect my skating technique until I could make it several feet without any assistance from Edward. I beamed up at him as I took his hand, although this time not for support. It surprised me that his hand didn’t feel cold in mine, and I realized how cold my hands must be. Naturally, Edward noticed too.

“You’re as cold as me,” he murmured, undoubtedly surprised. “I think its time to take a break.” We stepped off the ice, and my feet thanked me for putting them on the less hazardous ground. I sat down and Edward, determined to warm me up, ordered me a hot chocolate from the counter where we got our skates. I drank it gratefully, feeling the warmth ooze into me. After a few minutes I was ready to hit the ice again.

The rest of my afternoon went by swiftly and smoothly. As we returned our skates, I realized two things. First, I had made it through an entire afternoon doing a sport without having to rush off to emergency room. Secondly, I had actually had fun. This, however, I suspected was due to the fact that I had spent the time with Edward. If he was able to make the prom fun, he could probably make me enjoy reading the dictionary.

We made our way to the car in a hurry, for the thin clouds had turned into a heavy rain, just as Alice had predicted. Edward’s face was absolutely angelic even drenched in rain water, while I probably looked like a drowned cat. My face gave away my dismay about the differences in our appearance, which was not overlooked by Edward.

“Over?” he laughed. “Did you think I would just drop you off after this? Alice would kill me. I’m taking you to dinner, of course.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but he smoothly cut me off. “Don’t be difficult Bella. I’ll even let you choose where we go. Alice made reservations at La Bella Italia and Downriggers Waterfront in Port Angels, and that Chinese restaurant on 101, but we can go somewhere else if you want.” His eyes were still butterscotch from his last hunting trip, and were so captivating I knew I didn’t have a hope of fighting him. It took me a minute to get my thoughts in order.

“How about pizza?” I suggested. If I brought home leftovers, I wouldn’t have to cook for Charlie tonight. He frowned but started the car. Before I knew it we were speeding down the road, and I had to bite my lip to keep from criticizing his lack of following the speed limit. However, when he began to creep up to 125, I coughed and nodded towards the speedometer. After all, we were still in town. Edward sighed, but he went down to 95, which was slow for him. We made it to the pizza parlor in five minutes.

When we got inside, he strode past me towards the counter. “Sit down Bella. I’ll order,” he said, and I followed his instructions. A minute later he sat down with a soda for me, saying nothing but smirking.

“What did you order?” I asked curiously, but he just shook his head. I studied his face, but it gave nothing away. My curiosity was growing, but he wasn’t saying anything.

My curiosity turned to horror when I saw what he had ordered. Three waitresses brought out our nine large pizzas. He had gotten everything on the small pizza parlor’s menu.

“Dig in. We’ll take the extra’s for Charlie,” he said, his smirk now that crooked smile I loved, melting my fury.

“That was uncalled for. Even your entire family couldn’t eat this much if they wanted to!” I retorted quickly, before all of my anger left me.

“I though you would want a good selection,” Edward replied, far too innocently. I sighed, and helped myself to a slice of pepperoni. Edward watched me eat, refilling my glass when necessary, and smiling as I attempted to glare at him. When I had eaten three slices, he called for a waitress to box the rest up for us.

“So, was your day half as bad as you thought? Being human isn’t so bad after all, is it?” he asked me after I tripped into the car and pulled on my seatbelt.

“I think being a vampire would be much better. Especially if I lose my klutziness,” I replied.

“Better hope you outgrow it, because you’re staying human. So, was that so bad?” He said it far too quickly, trying to change the topic. I frowned, but let him have his way.

Edward chuckled. “Of course not. But you do need to spend more time doing normal things.”

“How about doing something nonhuman tomorrow? Like visiting a house full of vampires? I haven’t seen Alice for a few days.”

“Okay. Charlie is going to be home soon. I’ll meet you inside. Don’t forget your pizzas,” Edward laughed. I grabbed the boxes and struggled to get inside as Edward dropped off his Volvo. Sure enough, just after Edward’s Volvo was out of sight Charlie pulled up.

“Hey Bells. How was your day?” Charlie asked eagerly.

“Fine thanks. Edward and I got pizza for dinner, and the leftovers are on the counter.”

Charlie would not be distracted that easily. “What’d you kids do?” I cringed.

“We went ice skating. Edward’s idea, not mine,” I added before he could ask me why on earth I had decided to go ICE SKATING.

“How’d it go?” he asked cautiously, obviously hoping it had not ended it a trip to the ER.

“Fine, actually. I’m an ice princess now,” I smiled. Charlie laughed. This moment was perfect. Charlie and I were having an actual conversation, Edward would be here in a few minutes, and I had made it through an entire day without falling once.